Seraph of the End
(also known as Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign) is a Japanese dark fantasy manga series written by Takaya Kagami and illustrated by Yamato Yamamoto with storyboards by Daisuke Furuya. It is published by Shueisha on Jump Square and in English by Viz Media on Weekly Shonen Jump. An anime adaptation was announced on August 28, 2014 and premiered in Japan on April 4, 2015. Plot In 2012, the world allegedly comes to an end at the hands of a human-made virus, ravaging the global populace and leaving only children untouched. It is at this time that vampires emerge from the recesses of the earth, likely followed by age-old horrors of the dark thought only to be myth. The vampires sweep the earth and claim it in a single violent stroke, subjugating the remnants of humanity and leading them beneath the surface to safety. This "protection" comes at the price of donating blood to their captors. At the age of twelve, Yūichirō and his friend and fellow orphan Mikaela plotted to escape along with the children in Hyakuya Orphanage. However, this resulted in their deaths and Mikaela sacrifices himself in order for Yūichirō to escape and be saved by members of the Moon Demon Company, an extermination unit of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army. Four years later, Yūichirō dedicates his life to destroy vampires and seek revenge against them for murdering his "family". Characters Due to the manga's premise, there is a variety of characters of all races. Humans, demons, vampires, and Seraphs and more. The main humans focused on are from both the Japanese Imperial Demon Army (JIDA), and the vampire killer unit, the Moon Demon Company, forces that were formed after the apocalypse by the Hiragi family, the richest and most powerful clan in Japan. The humans main goal is to all fight against the vampires and Horseman of the apocalypse to save humanity. The demons focused on reside inside weapons known as Cursed Gear, which were developed by Mahiru Hiragi when she joined the Brotherhood of a Thousand Nights (Hyakuya Sect), a deprived, magical cult that experimented on the Hyakuya children that gave them all the Seraph gene. Majority of demons were former vampires, and feed off of greed, lust, and anger, but are weakend by love and friendship. If the owner of the gear has a weak heart, they can easily be overpowered and get possessed by the demon. Demons often taunt, mock, and give nightmares to their masters as well. The Progenitor Council is the main group that the manga focuses on. Vampires produce no body heat and can be harmed by sunlight, and must wear wrist bands to protect them from getting burned alive. They all have no human emotions and only crave for blood. Depending on age, vampires are stronger, and referred to as Nobles by the humans. Vampires loathe the humans, and strongly oppose the human experimentation. In Japan, the vampires are led by Krul Tepes, the Third Progenitor, one of most powerful vampires alive, in an underground city called Sanguinem. There, vampires hold humans (mostly children) as livestock. See here for more. Media Manga Seraph of the End has been serialized by Shueisha in its Japanese monthly shōnen manga magazine since September 3, 2012. On October 7, 2013, Viz MediaViz Media announced that it has licensed for North American release and added the series to its manga to its lineup of the company's Weekly Shonen Jump''' digital magazine. The series has collected into ''tankboon format since January 4, 2013, and as of October 4, 2018, seventeen volumes have been collected. The eleventh volume bundled with a orignal video animation, called Vampire Shahal. A voice comic (vomic) was also produced and published by Shueisha and its first episode was featured by Sakiyomi Jum-Bang! on February 1, 2013. A manga adaptation of Guren's light novels is being drawn by Yo Azmai, the same illustrator for Guren Ichinose: World Resurrection at Nineteen. The manga was serialized in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen magazine, and started on June 6, 2017. The first volume was released on November 2, 2017, and as of August 2018, three volumes have been released in Japan. Light novels is a prequel focusing on Guren Ichinose as the main protagonist, detailing the series of events that occurred eight years before the start of the manga, explaining how the apocalypse happened and how the Cursed Gears were made. Written by Takaya Kagami and illustrated by Yamato Yamamoto, it consists of seven volumes and has been serialized by Kodansha from January 4, 2013, to December 2, 2016. On February 15, 2015, Vertical Inc. announced that it has licensed the light novels for North American release and will be releasing it in an Omnibus with two volumes per novel form beginning on January 26, 2016; however the seventh volume will be released as its own novel. Another novel series titled was released on December 4, 2015 to May 2, 2016, and has been collected into two volumes. Like the first novel series, it is written by Takaya Kagami and illustrated by Yamato Yamamoto. It explores the origin of vampires and Mika as a whole, along with the noble vampire Crowley. It is published by '''Shueisha, '''unlike the first novel series was. In October of 2017, a new novel series called began on December 27, 2017, and is published by Kodansha. It takes place three years after ''Catastrophe and one year before the start of the main manga. Anime An anime adaptation was announced on August 28, 2014, and premiered on April 4, 2015, and ended on December 26, 2015. The anime has a total of 24 episodes. It is produced by Wit Studio, the same studio that produced the popular hit, Attack on Titan. It is directed by Daisuke Tokudo, and screenplayed solely by Hiroshi Seko, who was also one of the main screenwriters for Attack on Titan. Furthermore, the manga's writer, Takaya Kagami, is personally drafting the original story for episodes with material not in the manga and supervising the scripts throughout the whole production. On December 12, 2014, it was announced the series will run in two split cours (quarters of the year). The first would air in 2015 from April to June and the second from October to December, with both having 12 episodes respectively. The television series premiered on Tokyo MX, Mainichi Broadcasting System, TV Aichi, and Nippon BS Broadcasting at their respective time slots. On March 31, 2015, it was announced that Funimation has licensed the series for streaming and home release in North America. Hulu will also be streaming the series. On May 2, 2016, a OVA titled Vampire Shahal was released with the the eleventh volume of the manga. Hiroyuki Sawano produced and co-composed the music, as well as the opening and ending themes, "X.U." and "scaPEGoat", with Takafumi Wada, Asami Tachibana, and Megumi Shiraishi. The opening song is performed by SawanoHiroyukinZk:Gemie, while the ending song is performed by SawanoHiroyukinZk:Yosh. Both themes were released in Japan on a CD on May 20, 2015. Reception Volume 1 reached the 24th place on the Japanese weekly manga chart, and, as of 13 January 2013, has sold 62,434 copies. It also reached the 3rd place on the New York Times manga bestseller chart. Volume 2 reached the 15th place on the weekly manga chart, and, as of 12 May 2013, has sold 91,095 copies. Volume 3 reached the 9th place and, as of 15 September 2013, has sold 121,235 copies. Volume 4 also reached the 9th place on the chart, and, as of 19 January 2014, has sold 160,444 copies. Volume 5 also reached the 9th place, and has sold, as of 11 May 2014, 155,139 copies. In 2015, the series sold 2.8 million copies, in 2017, it sold 7 million copies. As of April 2018, the manga has 8.5 million copies in print. On Anime News Network, Rebecca Silverman gave volume 1 an overall grade of B+. References External links *Main website *Official manga website *Official anime website *Seraph of the End (manga) at ''Anime News Network's'' encyclopedia *Seraph of the End on Wikipedia. Category:2012 manga Category:Dark fantasy anime and manga Category:Funimation Entertainment Category:Light novels Category:Shōnen manga Category:Shueisha manga Category:Vampire anime and manga Category:Viz Media manga